Posted on 02/21/2010 6:03:42 AM PST by Daniel T. Zanoza
I have to admit while watching Tiger Woods' highly anticipated mea culpa last Friday, I quickly lost interest. It was evident Woods was reading from a script and his apology lacked sincerity. In fact, I wish Tiger had my number because I could have written a more believable speech for a fraction of the cost he must have paid some high priced pr firm who didn't really get the job done.
The operative question is: What was Woods apologizing for? The answer to this question is simple. Woods couldn't come back to the PGA without some kind of admission of guilt regarding his extramarital relationships with at least 12 women. The PGA wanted him to apologize, the media which fawns over Woods wanted him to apologize and, most of all, the companies which endorsed him wanted Woods to apologize. This apology had nothing to do with morality or Woods lack thereof. It was all about money. Now Woods could return to the PGA tour with his problems all put behind him. Well, at least that's how some in our society will see it.
What I'd like to see is an apology from the media who covered Tiger Woods' career from his days as an amateur through his winning of 14 major tournaments before the fall from grace which shocked the world. You see, from the beginning, Tiger Woods was treated as something special. And, to be truthful, he was...as a golfer. But I am certain of this. There are those in the press who knew of Woods' womanizing tendencies. They had to know and they kept the story a secret.
But why? The profession of journalism is dependent on a very important word and that word is access. If a lone reporter on the golf beat had come out with a story reporting on Woods' multiple affairs, two things could have happened. The report may have opened the flood gates for greater scrutiny of Woods who was portrayed by the press as a pillar of virtue. Or the journalist who wrote the piece would have found him or herself on the outside looking in, being labeled as a vicious spreader of rumors regarding Tigers' personal life.
I've seen this happen in the coverage of Chicago-style politics. Many journalists are aware of the corruption which exists in the city, but fail to report on such things because they would lose access to the sources they cover. No source, no story. No story, no job. It's that simple. But yet it's insidious, just the same.
However, in most things, like in the case of Tiger Woods, there was a double standard when it came to the scrutiny of John Daley, a golfer with extraordinary talent who was plagued by unrelenting demons. Daley only won two major PGA tournaments, so he was more vulnerable to criticism from the media. There were stories about how many diet Cokes he drank, how many cigarettes he smoked, how much money he spent on gambling and his marital problems which led to multiple divorces. But Daley isn't Tiger Woods. And though Daley had a strong and loyal following, he wasn't quite the cash cow that Tiger is to the PGA tour.
Supposedly, because of his mixed heritage, Woods opened up the sport of golf to millions who wouldn't otherwise have been exposed to the sport. In essence, he was too important to write bad things about, until that fateful Thanksgiving night when he ran into a fire hydrant at 3 A.M. trying to escape the wrath of his wife. And if anyone buys that story about Mrs. Woods breaking out the back window of her husband's SUV in order to save him, I've got some ocean front property in Illinois for sale to the highest bidder.
Let's put Tiger Woods aside for the moment. Where is the apology from the 12 or more women who helped Woods break his marriage vows? To the contrary, noted publicity seeker and lawyer Gloria Allred is suing Woods on behalf of one of his mistresses because she wasn't the only mistress. As comedian Yakov Smirnoff used to say "What a country!"
However, don't you Tiger Woods fans worry. You will soon see him back on the golf course and all will be forgotten...well, sort of. Woods will throw a few pieces of grass into the air for wind drift. As he is standing above his ball, an eight year old will snap his picture which will invoke a tirade of obscenities from Woods. Then Woods will take a giant swing and launch his ball down the fairway of a 550 yard par 5 while some idiot in the crowd yells "in the hole" even though this is a physical impossibility.
Hey, Tiger, see you at the Master's.
A quickie in the parking lot doth not make a mistress!
the scheming gold diggers who lined up for quickies with a married man deserve an apology?
For what?
Apologizing to a mistress.....gimmmie a break.
Allgood’s crying puppet was beyond disgusting. Even more disgusting than Tiger’s behavior.
if I were he...(and I would not have his philandering ways if I had his golf talents....)
I would tell the media to GFU...and then go play golf.
every other or every third baseball player gets (or could get) more @$$ than a toilet seat....and for some reason Golf is so snooty as to make someones moral code part of the scoring paradigm.
this is BS and NOT news....
Apology for his mistresses...huh???? Like they didn’t know they were fooling around w/a married man. Please!
Did you mean: Where is the apology FROM the media and FROM the ‘hos?
Tiger and his tramps are a perfect example of sychophantic celebrity worship....which sadly, affects every aspect of our political and economic lives.
Marketing the masses madness.
If only Tiger had read from a telepromter he’d be as revered as another lying scheming black man.
And even more disgusting is that stupid Gloria Alred. I can’t stand that woman.Always right there beside some bimbo who claims they were wronged.
The Media deserves NOTHING, and the mistresses already got too much.
The thing that struck me about his “apology” was how self-centered it was. Woods referred to himself more times than Obama does. IMO he could have stated his mea culpa without putting practically every sentence in the first person.
His transgression is between him and his family. An apology to anyone beyond that circle is meaningless, and any umbrage taken at it is manufactured.
You have my vote for Best post on this thread ! LOL
Yes you described the media! I doubt his mistresses deserve an apology. They just want money. They should empathize with his wife and stop sticking their faces in front of cameras.
>Where is the apology FROM the 12 or more women who helped Woods break his marriage vows?<
The author asked the question using the word...”from” the mistresses. Which changes the meaning and heaps responsibilities on gold-digger sluts.
And I agree....the mistresses should be front and center in this whole’affair’ as well, then they should be ostracized...if only.
I absolutely agree. (when I wrote Allgood, I meant Alred)
Alred must take these cases on contingency and all the face time on TV she can get.
Why does the press bother with these 2 bit snarks?
oops ... nevermind
All the whiney, crybaby silliness over whether or not a man had slept with someone not his wife.
Who cares if he lives or dies?
What the hell difference does it make if he apologizes or does not apologize...whether to his mistresses, his sponsors, his fans, or, for that matter, the damned wood used to make his stinking golf clubs?
C'mon, people, this is stupid, stupid, stupid.
All this angst over a "athlete" that knocks a silly little white ball around in a cow pasture, with the aim of having it go into a hole dug in the ground.
Someone, please, please give me one example of redeeming value, however small, that this person has, in the overall scheme of things?
I truly do not care if the man screws goats, drinks turpentine, issues curses toward his opponents and leers at 80 year old women.
If I choose to buy the products he endorses, so be it, and if the money goes into his pocket, so be it. The point is that I purchased a product willingly, of my own free will and nowhere on that product does it state that the endorser is the paragon of human virtue and morality.
Somebody needs to get a life.
And as far as this "role model" stupidity...if my child had a fixation over an overpaid, so-called "athlete", going so far as to have a emotional disconnect over their antics...well, let's just say this...that child would very quickly get a lesson in just who is worthy of emulation in their small lives...and overpaid, so-called "athletes" whose life skill is knocking a little white ball around and chasing white, blond women would NOT be in that particular lesson plan.
And the same goes for football players, baseball players and race car drivers.
Role models...pfffttt!
Frankly, I don’t have even the slightest care about this subject, other than to say that it’s a shame that people in the sporting public spotlight don’t seem to understand that they become role models to young people, and that they don’t seem to understand this responsibility that comes with the fame and (fan/sponsor) money that they get for playing a game.
The parties involved (the women), well, they knew the job was dangerous when they took it.
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